Police Still Searching for Driver in Barcelona Attack

posted by Kat -
Aug 21, 2017

panish police set up 800 checkpoints in the Catalonia region over the weekend, as they continued to search for the man who drove a white van into the crowd on a sidewalk in the popular tourist area of Las Ramblas, killing 13 and wounding more than 100. Spanish media have named a Moroccan-born 22-year-old, Younes Abouyaaqoub, as the suspect, and believe he has potentially crossed the border into France.

Authorities also raided the home of Abdelbaki Essati, a mosque employee in Ripoll who is believed to have potentially overseen the terrorist cell whose members also attempted a second vehicle attack in Cambrils less than 24 hours after the Las Ramblas incident that killed one woman.

Five suspected terrorists, who wore explosive belts that turned out to be fake, were shot dead by police in connection with the Cambrils incident. Spanish police also now suspect that the cell was planning a more extensive attack, but changed course after an explosion last Wednesday destroyed a bomb factory owned by the group.